It is nice not to have to go wash clothes in the neighborhood lake or grind wheat with all of your neighbors like we did 200 years ago but the downside of it is that we've also lost what it means to work as a community. Other than in rural areas, there is really no cohesive sense of community in the way it used to be. Because of relying on other people to provide our goods and services, we've lost touch with the realities of true cost, labor and consumption.
We've relied on government and the red kettle in front of WalMart every Christmas to take care of those in need instead of taking the time out of our day and the money out of our own wallets to do it ourselves. We let members of the media spin and twist stories to tell us who we should vote for instead of stopping to think for ourselves and research the issues. The more we consume, the more bloated we become mentally, spiritually, morally and physically. When you outsource your needs to be handled by someone else, whether it be government or private industry, you also hand over your freedom. Next time you hear someone complain about how the government is intruding too much into their life, remind them that they traded that freedom for cheap, processed, pesticide-ridden food at Walmart and their need for convenience.
And the 6 Walton heirs control more wealth than the poorest 90million+ Americans ... just sayin'!
ReplyDeleteWell convience is a motivator.
ReplyDeletePiracy of digital media like songs, films and video games are done for mixed reasons but oddly enough convience is a large one.
When Steam launched in Russia Valve was told it would be pointless as 90% of videogames were pirated. However in 2010 it was Steams fastest growing market because it gave people more convience to play PC games than tormenting did.
However on a similar line, iTunes is in the same business with songs and... Who reads the TofS?
I think you raised a very good point that those who aren't self aware can be easily lead and psychology has shown us just how much. Organised religion indoctrinates many from birth (I'm a Christian but not a church goer), the media has a similar effect. It attracts like minded readers or viewers with prejudices the same as the media but then feed the recipient more extreme views or others entirely unrelated to their original views but those of the editor or owner of the outlet.
It's not so much the case of us not being able to do something ourselves anymore but people just being led like sheep.
Firstly our economic system is broken. The mechanics are fine but the use of them is being exploited by the wealthy. Goldman and Sacs donates the largest amount to both Obama and Romney so whoever wins, they really win. Because of this nothing is done about the money which should not exist. The amount of money increases more than the amount of wealth by more than inflation every year. Democracy is taken advantage of so people are excluded and often minority rule is allowed. This alone takes away most liberty in question and with this foothold, little else is possible.
In the Middle East, notably Eygpt there have been popular Revolutions for liberty from some people but mostly because they couldn't eat, which was the same with France in the 1790's. Oppressive rule, the Nobility and the Church combined owned most of the country, but in the year of the Revolution the crops failed. If you compared theirs to the United States in 1775 then the US would merely look like cry babies.
If we want Liberty then firstly we need the voting systems of many countries changed to some form of Proportion Representation, preferably Mixed Member Proportional. Then we need to start having laws which start hitting those who use Free Speech as a cover in order to lie. Then go after corrupt systems enabling the rich to stay in power unjustly and at that point, everything major should be fixed (unless Global warming is as bad as Al Gore says because if so, oh shit, we're doomed) :P
I'm not against the rich or people being rich, but actual capitalism (not the fake bullshit capitalism the USA has) states that they must earn their money and their value as opposed to just inheriting it, and then using this stack to automatically create more wealth unjustly or change laws in their favour, which is what happens now.
I noticed this got posted on Escapist Magazine and someone said it sounded like a generic rant by someone who never grew their own veggies. Actually, I did. I grew up on a farm.
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